An Eyewitness account of Ron Nasty and the New Rutles
at The Troubador

With all of the recent Rutlings starting to wobble, a little background
music here....

The recent interest in this reunion had its genesis in two shows played
in early September 1994 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. I attended
both shows and wrote the following report at that time. I'm glad
SOMEBODY was listening - I hope that same SOMEBODY will listen when I
now say that the best way to go with any live shows is to replicate that
same formula (bandwise) for success - and of course begin again at the
Troubadour!

Neil Innes is about the most underrated songwriter I know! Anyone
interested in the Rutles here would do well to investigate Neil's
history, from the Bonzo Dog Band to his solo music to The World to
Grimms, not to mention his involvement with Monty Python.

September 13, 1994

"I suffered for my music...and now it's your turn." With this famous
introduction to his "Protest Song", Neil Innes opened both shows this
week at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, the club famous for putting
Elton John on the American musical map in the early 1970s. Certainly
one of the most underrated songwriters in pop history, Innes is not only
a very gifted musician but an excellent lyricist and master wordsmith.
Having gained fame in the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and fronting the
now-infamous Rutles, Neil had also created a series entitled "The Innes
Book of Records" on British television over a decade ago. Since then,
he has been working in British children's television.

As a result of all of the intentional Beatles references in the Rutles
collection, Innes reportedly had to fork over a portion of the royalties
to the Beatles music publishing company of the day. And by a strange
twist of fate, with that famous buyout of the catalog by one Michael
Jackson, the "gloved one" also became the unwitting owner of the
invaluable Rutles works. And so, with an offer to Michael and his new
bride to attend the show (despite their planned award show appearance on
Thursday night), an undaunted Ron Nasty succeeded his alter-ego Neil
Innes on the stage on both nights in fronting the New Rutles for their
only engagement planned for the immediate future.

With a simple two-line mention in the Los Angeles Times and no
noticeable advertising, the crowd was, not surprisingly, comprised of
mainly die-hard British and British-American fans, though there was more
of a mix for the Saturday show, drawn mostly by the Monty Python
connection during this UK-LA festival week. Despite very reasonable
ticket prices and the fact that the shows were slow to sell out, all in
attendance were completely blown away by the performance on the first
night and, despite a considerably different approach, those returning
were not one bit disappointed by the second show. My guest and I concur
that these two shows were far and away the best shows either of us have
ever attended!

Although Neil has aged considerably in the past decade, he still
retains the impish Harold Lloyd features and hasn't lost his sense of
fun and parody. To an inveterate Innes fan, the opening few songs,
performed solo, provided a slightly (and, perhaps, intentionally) uneven
start, but such hits as "Crystal Balls," "Urban Spaceman" and "How Sweet
to be an Idiot" served their purpose in setting the stage for the New
Rutles.

Donning a blonde wig and army camouflage jacket, Neil returned
as Ron Nasty to lead the New Rutles (for these appearances, played by
the Beatles-soundalike band, the Moptops) through a sizable portion of
the "pre-fab four" repertoire.

The effect of the Thursday night show, which included an eight-piece
orchestra, can only be described as surreal, particularly in the
renditions of songs such as "Doubleback Alley", "Piggy in the Middle"
and "Love Life." Due to the intimate club setting, the musical content
and the perfect sound levels at the show, my guest and I could only
feel that this was this crowd's own little secret discovery, much as
it must have seemed in the Cellar in Hamburg many years ago. Until
now, I would never have given serious consideration to seeing a band
like the Moptops, but the entire crowd was instantly converted, not
only in their performance during the New Rutles portion of the show,
but in the "third act" of the night: the Moptops reemerged to perform
Beatles songs from across the spectrum to perfection. During this
portion of the Saturday evening show, Neil Innes and Greg Philingaines
(keyboard player for Eric Clapton, and Ed Sullivan/Billy Preston
impersonator extraordinaire) also rejoined the band for a time and
again floored all in attendance with unbelievable renditions of many
favorites such as "Back in the U.S.S.R" and "Hey Jude," rounding out
three hours of pure fun and escapism.

I had a chance to speak very briefly with Neil after the Thursday
show. He informed me that there are no immediate plans to continue with
a tour or additional appearances, but he is receiving some persistent
pressure in Britain to follow up with a second Rutles project.
Hopefully, the crowd response at both of these shows will help him to
reconsider! And, Saturday Night Live, you know Neil! Are you
listening?!?